First Family Volume I: Not what they seem
by Hardstone
Summary: Based in MCU and The Chronicles of Peter Parker Fanfic Universe: Traveling back from Mars six astronauts are struck by a cosmic radiation blast. The five survivors are transformed from the radiation, causing friction within the group. During their time in quarantine they discover that not everything is what it seems and both they and the planet is in danger.
1. Prologue

Deep in the bowels of a secret shield facility codename Pegasus, Reed Richards finishes up his work on an instrument. He looks down at the plans and compares them to what he has built, "Well about halfway at least" he tells himself disappointedly. As Richards begins packing up his personal belongings a tall dark figure in a long black coat approaches out of the shadows.

"So the great Reed Richards leaves one of the most important projects in human history half completed" the figure calls out with his deep and authoritative voice. Richards is momentarily startled, but quickly realizes who stands behind him.

"Fury, I know what you trying to do, this truly is one of the greatest projects I've ever worked on, but you know why I'm leaving."

"Yes I understand, being the first person to set foot on Mars kind of trumps most things" Fury responds, "but creating unlimited clean energy, that's gotta be up there?"

"It's number three actually" Fury raises his eyebrows with surprise at the answer, "I'm not even gonna ask what number two is."

"Don't worry Fury, the Tesseract will still be here when I get back, we'll complete our project then."

Fury shrugs his shoulders in defeat and holds out his hand to Richards, "Best of luck Richards, be safe and watch out for any Martians you might find." Richards laughs at this joke, "Will do Fury, Will do" he replies shaking his hand.

Richards heads back to his office where his bags are packed ready for his big journey to Mars. He quickly looks through his emails one last time and notices a new one sent from Dr Eric Selvig, it reads.

* * *

Dear Reed

I apologize for writing to you like this but I am in need of your assistance.

I am in New Mexico with Dr Jane Foster, we have been examining atmospheric disturbances, possibly an Einstein-Rosenberg bridge. We have however got a small problem, SHIELD have confiscated all our equipment.

I'm aware you've worked with SHILED before, would you be able to give us some assistance?

Thank you for any help you can give.

Kindest Regards

Eric

* * *

Richards strokes his chin in thought, _what should I do about this?_ Finally Richards forwards the email to Nick Fury with a cc to Maria Hill.

* * *

Hi Director,

Could you please look into this situation for me, Dr Selvig is a close colleague of mine and a brilliant scientist.

He is one of only a handful of scientists capable of deciphering the secrets of the Tesseract, probably a good person to have in mind for our project if anything happens to me on my mission.

Regards

Dr Reed Richards

* * *

Reed then closes up his computer and heads to his car, destined for the Ares 4 shuttle launch press conference.


	2. Take off

**Ares shuttle Launch Center**

* * *

Behind the main stage six soon to be famous astronauts wait nervously for their introduction. NASA's head of communications preps them checking their microphones are working and everything is in order. The master of ceremonies introduces Charles Bolden, Head of NASA, then the astronauts. All seven sit on a long table on top of a raised stage overlooking media and guests.

The presentation begins with Charles Bolden, head of NASA, describing what a momentous occasion this is, the first humans to set foot on the red planet. "The Ares Shuttle 4 mission will take the widest variety and most in-depth analysis of Mars' surface, and give us the most in-depth understanding of Mars' history, present and its future for human settlement." There is huge applause from the crowd.

Bolden continues, "This project is only possible due to four factors, firstly the new X-engine designed by Dr Reed Richards and Victor Van Damme, reducing the travel time to Mars dramatically."

The crowd applauds as the two men raise their hand in appreciation, "Secondly, another of Richards inventions, the new electro-magnetic radiation dampeners, capable of repelling the worst varieties of radiation, along with any space junk that might get in the way" the crowd laugh at Bolden as he mimics avoiding space junk.

"The last technological breakthrough that's really made this possible is the Oscorp bio-synthetic space suits. These marvels of science will enhance the astronauts physical abilities, allowing them to function for extended periods in zero gravity as well as protecting them from any low level radiation."

Charles looks across to the Oscorp assigned section but Norman Osborn is not present, only some mid management and scientists who wave their hands in appreciation of the applause they receive.

"Lastly, this project wouldn't be possible without the financial support of J. Jonah Jameson, Owner of New York's own Daily Bugle and the 21st Century Entertainment Network." Jameson waves to the audience with a broad smile, enjoying the attention he's receiving.

Charles now introduces the six astronauts that will be making the historic first trip to Mars.

"First our senior pilot Ben Grimm. Ben has a broad experience flying multiple missions for NASA, and has been the main test pilot for our new shuttle over many years."

After the crowds applause dies down Charles continues, "Assisting Ben as co-pilot will be one of the youngest and most talented astronauts in the history of NASA, John Jameson." J Jonah Jameson claps and cheers loudly, quickly followed by those around him. Backstage the head of NASA communications comments to her colleague, "You know he's only on this Mission because his father is playing the bills."

Charles now introduces the head of Geology, "Susan Storm is a leader in extra-terrestrial geology and the foremost expert in martian asteroids and geological formations."

"And it seems that geology runs in the family as our assistant geologist is none other than Susan's brother Jonny Storm. He has worked with her over the last few years in preparation for this mission." Johnny waves to the crowd, winking at reporter Christine Everheart in the front row.

Backstage the NASA communications Woman shakes her head in embarrassment, "He only got in because the psychologists advised that the only female on board needs to have a familiar face, someone they can trust." Her colleague is stunned, "He's flying to Mars purely because a woman needs someone to talk to?" she replies with disgust.

"Not quite, the long journey results in a type of cabin fever, the team was assembled in order to ensure mental harmony… Ben Grimm isn't NASA 's best pilot, not even close, but he's Richard's best friend."

"For such an important mission we decided to send the best in robotics engineering, Victor Van Damme, is one of the leading minds in robotics, having designed previous Mars Lander Rovers, the new shuttle engines and many of the systems on this mission." Charles again waits until the applause dies down, "Victor is vital to this mission, if anything were to go wrong, so far away from contact with earth, we can be confident he'll find a solution."

Behind the curtain the head of NASA communication listens as her colleague asks, "So who on this mission is Victors mental harmony person?"

"During profiling they found him to be extremely narcissistic, slightly autistic and 100% psychopathic. He doesn't need mental harmony or the company of others, he only cares about himself."

"Then why did they let him on the mission?" she replies, "he wanted to be the first person to walk on Mars, and he wouldn't build the robots and engines they needed unless he could."

"As Victor's understanding of the shuttle and it's robotics is essential, so is the leader of the mission, his understanding of… well pretty much everything will be priceless to this mission. One of the most brilliant minds on earth… but not for long," the crowd laughs, "the world's leading astrophysicist, designer of many of NASA's finest technology, Dr Reed Richards." The crowd erupts in applause as the group take some questions from the media.

The first question comes in "Can I ask the panel, what is it like to be on the first manned mission to Mars," immediately Sue protests "What am I invisible?" which brings laughter from the crowd.

Next Christine Everheart asks, "Has it been decided who will be the first man… umm I mean person to walk on Mars?" Victor opens his mouth to speak but Reed answers the question before he can utter a word, "We don't want to ruin this momentous occasion by letting out any details, you just have to wait and see," Victor glares at Reed.

Christine continues with her questioning, "Ben, who do you think will be the first person on Mars, will it be Victor or Reed?" Ben looks at the men seated either side of him, "Well you've put me between a rock and a hard place there, you'll have to wait and see as Reed said."

"Is it not true that one of the conditions of Reed being part of the project was to be first off the shuttle?" she continues, "Miss Everheart now that's a stretch, there have been no promises made, perhaps we'll flip a coin." The audience again break out into laughter, Victor's face turns ice cold, devoid of emotion.

"What will you do for entertainment?" Johnny answers, "We have the new iPad from Apple, packed full of games, though we have to keep it in airplane mode, wouldn't want the shuttle to go up in flames."

Ned Leeds from the Daily Bugle then asks John Jamison a question, "My question is to John, How does it feel to be the youngest ever astronaut in NASA history?"

John answers with a long winded account of the hard work he's put in to get where he is, to encourage young people to follow in his footsteps and chase their dreams, Then finishing by thanking his father who's always supported him in everything he does.

Lastly a question comes from Ben Ullrich from the New York bulletin "Can I ask the panel, what do they think the likelihood of a safe return is? My research indicates large amounts of cosmic radiation over long periods can cause irreparable damage to living organisms. " The panel shift uneasily until Victor answers, "That's a very doom and gloom way to look at it, what we are interested in is discovering new frontiers, understanding our galaxy no matter the cost, this is our sacrifice to science."

The six astronauts are escorted from the stage and out through the rear entrance two a waiting van. As the van begins to drive Johnny peers out through the back window noticing a shadow figure climbing up the side of the building onto the roof, "Hey did you go to see that it looks like Spider-man climbing that building." The other astronauts rush to get a glimpse but see nothing, "Stop fooling around Johnny, its time to be an adult," Ben grumbles at him. The van drives out of the complex heading north towards the launch site, behind them security vehicles and lights swarm around the building," I wonder what's going on back there?" Johnny asks as the van heads down the freeway escorted by police.

 **Shuttle Launch Pad - Upper New York State**

* * *

The next day is launch day, the six astronauts prepare for launch when they hear the morning news describe a giant green monster labelled the 'Hulk' battling another giant monster in Harlem. The astronauts and all their support personnel drop what they're doing to watch the footage of these two creatures battling, Reed however is more focused on the mission and doesn't pay attention. Sue looks into Reed's eyes detecting a distinct lack of surprise when the battle and green monster is shown. "Hey Reed aren't you interested in this Monster battle?" Reed shakes his head, "Did you already know these creatures existed? Is this part of the work you do when you're not here with us?" Reed laughs off her suggestion awkwardly, "I deal with astronomical phenomena not big green men." Reed shakes his head, "I'm focussing on the mission, which is what we all should be doing" Reed replies loudly.

All six astronauts get into the shuttle which launches into orbit without any disruptions. The shuttle detaches from it's rockets and attaches to the international space station where it is connected to the X-engines. The X-engines have been constructed in orbit over the last year-and-a-half with help from the international space station. The engines design allows it to be used multiple times back and forth to Mars and other planets, generating great speeds not possible with fuel propelled engines, but they are unable to enter a planets atmosphere, negating the need for protection from re-entry. Once both the shuttle and main vessel are ready they take off on the journey.


	3. The Final Frontier

**Outside Earth - Terran Solar System**

* * *

During the flights' first hour the astronauts marvel at the sight of Earth from space as they move away from it towards Mars. When Earth becomes a mere light in the sky the astronauts return to their quarters and occupy themselves with work, or distract themselves with iPad games. After a few hours of flight Johnny complains about the game he's playing, swearing aloud and throwing the iPad through the air only to be caught by Sue. "What do you think you're doing Johnny? We only have a few of these, you need to act like an adult…" Sue continues lecturing Johnny who argues back, as they do John Jameson looks across to Victor and comments "Having a brother and sister in the same shuttle for 5 months… this will be interesting."

Throughout the journey to Mars the team occupy their time with iPad games, Angry birds being a favourite. The battery life becomes an issue, Victor continually telling his fellow astronauts off for wasting electricity on mindless games.

The shuttle reaches Mars' orbit and the team send down the shuttle whilst John Jameson stays in the orbiting station.

 **Mars - Terran Solar System**

* * *

The shuttle lands and the astronauts have a little fun with the light gravity, something they haven't experienced for a long time. As they spend a few hours acclimatising to the gravity, Victor insists that he should be first onto the surface. Reed however disagrees saying that as the leader of this mission it's his responsibility. They begin arguing until Ben steps in and tells them to flip a coin. Reed agrees as does Victor reluctantly. Reed wins the toss and takes the scripted message to read out when he hits the surface.

Reed gives the scripted speech given to them by NASA, then the whole group spread out to experience their first day on Mars. Over the next month the group spend their time taking samples of rock, ice and drilling bore holes in order to document the history of Mars' climate.

After their month exploration the crew leave Mars and connect back to the main X-engines then travel back to earth.

 **Earth's outer atmosphere - Terran Solar System**

* * *

As they approach Earth's orbit Sue and Johnny work on their rock samples, examining their composition and breaking them open looking for fossils or other signs from the past.

Sue breaks a large rock open and a black substance oozes out, she grabs a large petri dish to collect it, emptying the contents into it. Her and Johnny spend hours examining it under a microscope, "It's alive, it's some sort of symbiote, probably not from Mars but another planet, we've just discovered the first life outside our planet."

The crew are overjoyed, their expedition has uncovered more than they could ever have imagined. As they congratulate each other John Jameson notices there is a minor issue with a solar panel. Victor tells the crew he'll fix it but Sue interrupts him asking if she can as it will be her last chance for a space walk. Victor insists as the most experienced astronaut he should do it and floats towards his suit which is hanging up on the rack.

Sue pleads with Reed, her eyes filled with disappointment. Reed then stops Victor and announces "Sue will do the fix on the solar panel, it's only a minor fix, it doesn't require your attention Victor." Victor places his suit back on the hook with a look of disgust.

Sue heads out the air lock and floats towards the solar panel to begin the repairs. As she is part way through the repairs Jameson notices an emergency light flashing. He runs a report and the sensors indicate rising cosmic radiation. Jameson yells out to the crew, "Hey everyone, we have a problem."

Reed looks at the screen and sees the cosmic radiation level rising quickly.

"Sue, Sue do you read?"

"Yes Reed, what is it."

"Get back now, the radiation is building, get back to the air lock now."

"Ok will do" she replies.

Sue begins heading back to the airlock but the cosmic radiation is rising too quickly. Reed glides towards the airlock past Johnny who sits at the rock analysis station, "What's going on" he asks "Cosmic radiation is building up, we need to get Sue in now."

Victor and Ben approach the front console and look over Jameson's shoulder at the rising cosmic radiation reading.

"Shut the airlock, close the electromagnetic field, she won't make it, we need to protect ourselves" Victor orders. Jameson looks up at Victor with horror, "But she'll die."

"We'll all die if you don't, now do it."

Johnny unbuckle's himself from the rock analysis station, leaping towards the air lock where Reed is putting on his space suit. As Johnny leaves the station he leaves the fume cupboard open and the rocks and black symbiote life form he was working on float in the cabin.

Johnny helps Reed with his suit but they can't find his other glove. Reed grabs some electrical tape and seals the end of his sleeve, "Reed your hand will freeze out there, you need a glove."

Reed looks at his hand, "There's no time, I'll have a few minutes before any significant damage, and she'll be safe by then."

Victor looks down the cabin at Reed and Johnny, "Jameson, close it now."

Johnny hearing Victor's order activates the manual override allowing Reed to enter the air lock safely. Reed roars with anger, "Ben, quickly stop them, we'll all die if you don't stop them."

Ben launches himself through the shuttle towards Johnny, Victor follows him leaving a strict instruction, "Shut the radiation shield now."

Reed opens the outer door as Sue glides towards him, the cosmic radiation reacts with particles in space creating a beautiful aurora as it approaches. Reed's elastic chord is tangled, he uses his ungloved hand to untangle it whilst reaching out for Sue.

Jameson watches through the window as Sue approaches the shuttle followed closely by the radiation, "Come on Sue, you can make it" he tells himself.

As Sue flies into the airlock entrance, Jameson activates the magnetic radiation shield, but a moment too quickly of Sue, the magnetic radiation shield engulfs her along with the radiation. The shutting of the radiation shield however is too late for the cabin and it fills with radiation.

Reed Richards hand still holds the elastic chord, it begins stretching, then his entire body stretches out towards Sue, grabbing her and pulling her in before he collapses.

Johnny shuts the airlock behind her, as the radiation wave hits him the airlock control panel explodes, flames engulf Johnny, surrounding him then they disappear into his body. A piece of the control panel flies off through the cabin and strikes Victor in the face.

Ben floats towards the airlock when the martian rocks floating in the middle of the cabin collide with him along with the radiation, causing him to pass out. Next to him the black symbiote makes contact with Victor's bio-synthetic space suit, as the radiation passes through, the symbiote expands over the suit covering it entirely.

The radiation wave then passes to the end of the shuttle, Victor and Jameson both pass out from its effects leaving the entire crew unconscious and the shuttle drifting into the earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled trajectory.

* * *

 **AN: Find out how they survive in Chronicles of Peter Parker Vol III - Chapter 3 Shooting Star.**


	4. Back down to Earth

Reed Richards opens his eyes slowly, blinking in an attempt to clear away his blurry vision. As his vision returns the soft yellow light morphs into a fluorescent light directly about him. Read groggily turned his head observing his surroundings, he's in some sort of hospital, or a science lab it would appear. Reed now tries to lift himself up off the bed but finds that his chest arms and legs are fastened down with straps. Reed twists and turns attempting to loosen them to no avail. Realising he cannot get himself free he examines the room for something to help. When it becomes apparent that there is nothing to help Reed sighs in frustration and begins struggling against the straps. This time he feels a loosening of the strap on his right arm, he pulls his arm back through the strap. As his arm escapes he looks down, for a second read is perplexed, his hand seem to be distorted, stretched even, but he ignores it and pulls off the remaining straps.

Reed gets to his feet but his is unstable, _I must have been unconscious a while, my legs haven't recovered from space. The atrophy isn't too pronounced so I calculate approximately 3 days_ he thinks to himself. He stumbles out of his room into a large central room, almost like a lounge room except that the walls are all white and the furniture brand-new, just like an IKEA room. Reed slowly walks around inspecting the couch, table and large screen TV on the wall. He surveys the rest of the room, its stretches for at least 10 meters, there are doors identical to the one he just entered from along the left hand side, a different larger door on the back wall, an open plan kitchen on the right hand side and a large heavily armoured door to the right.

Read walks to the back of the room along the left hand side, he stops at the door next to the room he emerge from and gently turns the handle. The door opens and he enters cautiously, as he clears the doorway he notices a person strapped to a bed with no sheets. He recognises the person and runs over, "Johnny, are you alright? Wake up" he shakes him pulling off the straps as Johnny begins to stir.

"Whoa hey, I was trying to sleep" Johnny replies groggily.

"Thank god you're okay, I'll get these straps off you, we have to get our of here."

"Oh Reed, you're awake. It's about time."

"Come on Johnny, we need to leave now."

"Calm down, Reed, we're safe here, they're looking after us, it's you and Sue we worried about."

"Sue, is she…" Reed's voice trails off, "She's still asleep, like you were, the doctors said you two were the worst hit."

"Can I see her?" Reed asks, "Yeah sure, I'll take you."

The two men head into the next room where sue lays quietly "Doctors? Where are we?" Reed asks, Johnny explains they are in quarantine after their exposure to solar radiation, the doctors aren't allowing them out of the room, and have been doing tests on them.

Reed asks why they were both strapped to a bed, and why Johnny's had no sheets. Johnny just smiles at this question, "you'll find out tomorrow, but for now I'm gonna get some more sleep."

Johnny leaves the room as Reed takes a seat besides Sue's bed. Reed spends all night by her side holding her hand, talking to her willing her to wake up. After six hours of waiting Reed's eyelids become heavy, his head droops down and he begins to doze when Sue's hand tightens around his and she stirs.

Reed bolts up awake, "You're awake, thank god, you're awake."

Sue slowly rises her head slightly off the bed, looks across at Reed, "Reed, what's happening."

"It's ok, everything's ok, you're in hospital, everything will be alright" Sue places her head down and falls back asleep.

Reed waits patiently for another 3 hours until Sue wakes up and regains full consciousness. He's joined by Johnny and they help her out of bed and explain where they are. Johnny takes them of a tour of the facilities, he explains the doctors are running tests on them as their bodies have been transformed, Johnny explains that he spontaneously combusts and sometimes levitates, he can't control it and needs to be strapped to his bed at night.

As they walk towards the kitchen at the back of the room a door opens and someone in a large aluminium suit walks out. Reed falls over with fright, Sue and Johnny pull him up, the figure takes off his helmut and shows his face, it's Victor.

"Well you two made it through after all, not that you deserve it." Victor growls at Reed, "Hey watch yourself Victor, that's my sister."

"Your sister, and her dotting man child is the reason we're in here."

"Victor I'm sorry I.." Reed begins, "I don't want to hear it, the doctors tell me I only have month's to live, I have to wear this suit to dampen the radiation, slow the decay of my body."

"I thought there was enough time for Sue to get back, I calculated her expected velocity and the approach of the radiation, she should have made it."

"Well you were wrong genius, now I'm dying, and Ben, well, I think I'm the lucky one."

Victor storms off back into his room, Johnny points to the double doors down the end. Reed walks into Ben's room, a converted activity room, where he sees a large orange martian rock in the corner.

"Ben, are you in here?" he asks, then the rock moves and a face appears.

"Ben? Is that you?" Reed asks.

"Ben is dead, I'm not Ben, I'm not a man." he mumbles hiding his face from the world.

"Ben, you're.. you're a"

"I'm a MONSTER! Not a man, just a THING!"

Reed is shocked, "It must have been the cosmic rays, our exposure to them combined with"

"Get out" Ben yells, standing up showing the full size of his rock composite body. Reed is startled and backs out of the room.

"See what you've done, you've condemned me to death, Ben is now… a thing and John, well he was probably the luckiest out of us all, he died nice and quick, drowned in the Hudson" Victor has returned to continue his attack.

Reed backs away from Victor stumbling as he goes, horror fills him, _what have I done_ he thinks. As he backs away he looses his balance and falls, as he does he reaches for a metal cabinet to stop his descent, it's too far away for his arm to reach but then something amazing happens, his arm stretches and he grabs the cabinet stopping his fall. The others in the group are silent, astonishment fills their faces.

Reed pulls himself up and stands back upright, examining his arms as it returns to normal size.

"What the hell was that?" Johnny asks, "He's got a super power too, like Ben, like me, we've all changed."

Sue and Johnny marvel at Reed's ability, he begins testing out his stretching ability, mainly just his limbs. Johnny sits down and contemplates controlling his ability, "I can't believe Reed is controlling it so easily, maybe all I need to do is concentrate" he clicks his fingers as he finishes and notices a little spark. He clicks his fingers again and again excitedly and the flames get bigger and bigger, "Look look everyone, I'm controlling the fire."

"So you've reached neanderthal stage then" Victor replies sarcastically.

Johnny continues clicking both hands making larger and larger flames until he can't control it, his whole body begins heating up and flames engulf his clothes and rise up off his body. "Help, help me" he yells as Reed and Sue run to their beds to grab blankets, Ben pokes his head out of his room to see what all the commotion is about. Suddenly the water sprinklers activate and saturate the entire room including the bedrooms.

When they stop Johnny's flames have subsided and everyone's beds and everything is drowned with water. Sue sits down and holds her head in her hands "What is all this, I just want to go back to normal" as she speaks aloud to herself she becomes invisible, "Hey Sue, where'd you go?" Ben asks in confusion. Sue is invisible but her clothes still are, she then reappears as everyone looks at her bemused, "What do you mean Ben?"

"Sis you just turned invisible, this is amazing, Ben is a rock man, I'm a fire guy, Reed is plastic man, sue is invisible girl," "Woman" Sue interrupts, "Sorry woman, and Victor is…" the four look at Victor in silence, "Dying, that's what I'm doing, dying, I'm glad that you are happy with all this, the two men who caused this, because of the girl who didn't obey protocol get super powers, and the three people who tried to do the right thing are dead, dying or now a thing.

"Hey!" Ben protests, "You know what I mean."

The group argue about the incident until a door opens and four armed security enter the room accompanied with two doctors, all dressed in hazmat suits.

"Where are we, what has happened to us?" Reed asks the doctors, "You've been exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation, fatal levels."

"Are we going to die?" Johnny asks, "No, extraordinarily you're suits helped absorb the radiation, and somehow it has altered your DNA."

Victor storms out of the room into his bedroom, "What's up with him?" Reed asks, "He was not wearing his suit during the incident, he wasn't protected from the radiation, that's why he's dying."

The doctor outlines that they cannot be released for a few months until they are certain that it's safe, and that there will be no contact with the outside world. Reed protests, "Why can't we speak to anyone, who do you work for? I know people who can help, I can help."

The doctor replies, "Yes Dr Richards, maybe you can, we will investigate and return." As the doctor begins to exit he stops and turns around, "It is strictly off limits to use these abilities in the room, we have built facilities to test them."

Johnny sits down disgruntled, "Can't believe I'm going to be stuck with Mr Doom and Gloom, a living rock, Reed "I'm on the spectrum" Richards and my older sister, someone please get me out of here."

* * *

Over the next few week the group are routinely taken to testing rooms within the facility and their abilities are tested to their limits. Blood tests are taken, Ben's blood is much harder to come by, they use a diamond tipped drill to make an incision and a mechanically powered pump to extract some blood.

Their space suits are given to them during their tests, the bio-synthetic make up has absorbed the properties of their extraordinary powers.

Johnny returns from his tests, "You guys won't believe it, I can fly, I can finally fly." Reed and Sue congratulate him, though Ben and Victor are less pleased. Victor returns to watching the TV and playing with electronic devices. He's spent the last week continually watching the news, pulling apart various electronic equipment and putting them together.

After Johnny explains the haphazard start to his flying career he heads over to the microwave to heat up some food. Johnny complains about the microwave not working, "What's going on guys, now the microwave doesn't work, along with the DVD player and the coffee tasting strange I'm gonna complain.

"Be quite stupid boy, everything is how it should be, keep your opinions to yourself."

Reed and Victor haven't spoken during the last week, Victor speaks only to Ben, they both hold a grudge against Reed for his decision during the incident.

Each morning, after his shower, Victor inspects the scar on his cheek, as he does his face drops with sadness. Today Victor goes through his routine as Reed enters, he shoots a dirty look in Reed's direction and leaves the bathroom "Victor is a perfectionist, both in his work and his looks, I don't think he can handle losing that perfection" Johnny tells Reed.

Victor exits the bathroom where Ben stands, "Look what he did to my face, I'm a monster" he complains, Ben who crosses his arms in disapproval, "I'm sorry Ben, he did us both wrong" he continues then leaves to his room.

Ben walks into the bathroom and sees Reed and Johnny talking and laughing, Ben frowns at them and enters the extra large shower. Johnny whispers to Reed, "You gotta make things right with them" Reed nods in agreement.

Later that day Reed knocks on Ben's door as he lays on his two king sized beds lying directly on the floor. "Hi Ben, could I speak with you?"

Ben looks up at him, gives him a scowl, looks away then replies "Fine."

Reed enters and sits down, "Ben, I can't imagine how hard this has been for you, I just want to say that I deeply believe my calculations were accurate, the margin for error was below 13 standard deviations and that if I could have recalculated Sue's momentum, the trajectory of the shuttle or…"

"Reed, Reed, ok I don't need War and Peace, I accept your apology."

Reed smiles, briefly, and begins to reply when Ben stops him, "Reed, I've known you forever, I know your heart is good and you'd never do or think ill of anyone, but your head rules your heart, always, every time, and you're normally always right, it's just well this time your heart ruled your head, and it aint as good at calculations."

Reed's head drops with disappointment, "I let you down, I failed, again, but I'm going to make it right, I'm going to fix this."

Ben laughs, "Reed, you can't fix this, what's done is done, just move on."

Reed processes this, still fixated on coming up with a solution, "Reed I don't need no fixin, lets just move on." Reed looks up at Ben and smiles, "Ok Ben, let's do that."

As Reed leaves the room Ben stops him, "Hey Reed, there's one other person you need to talk to, and he ain't gonna be as understanding as me."

Reed enters the lounge room where Victor sits in front of the TV with a pad scribbling down notes. "Victor, could I speak with you for a second?" Victor doesn't even acknowledge him, the rest of the group return to their rooms.

"Victor, I'd just like to say, that if I was aware of the difference in velocity and" Victor holds a finger up to Reed's mouth silencing him. "Reed, you're a bad scientist and a bad person, I don't care about your autistic apology or your need to feel good about what happened."

"Victor I…"

"Reed, what I need is for you to listen carefully, this isn't what we think it is, they aren't who they say they are."

"What do you"

"The news, the TV, its old, it's wrong, they've been cutting out parts, parts to do with our mission, our accident, but they missed one."

"What do you mean?" Reed asks, "The world thinks we're dead, they told the world there were no survivors, we aren't here for quarantine, we are prisoners, we are lab experiments."

Shock fills Reed's face, "No this can't be, I know people, government people, the director of….., they would know if a government had us captive, they would rescue us.

Victor laughs at Reed, "You don't know as much as you think, you don't know people Reed that's your problem."

Reed shakes his head in disbelief.

"I may be dying, you may have killed me, but I'm not dying in here, with you."

Reed stops shaking his head and looks towards Victor, "I don't believe you, how can you prove it."

"Ask to speak to someone outside, someone they can't refuse, then see what happens."

Reed thinks long and hard about Victors words, he then calls the head doctor and demands to speak to the outside world, but they reply it's too dangerous.

Reed argues with them until he finally convinces them to let him speak with Nick Fury, they agree but only if he'll work on a project they are trying to finish. Reed agrees and they organise a video conference in another room within the facility. Nick Fury speaks with Reed but during their conversation he notices some things missing, Fury is urging Reed to help finish building an instrument for them. Reed agrees but insists that they be allowed out. Fury tells him that they will be freed once their condition is confirmed as stable and the instrument finished.

Reed then at the end asks Fury a question about his colleague Selveig, "There's another man who can help, a Doctor Selveig, do you know him? Fury thinks for a second and replies "I don't know him but we can investigate,"

Reed continues, "Also lastly did you get that last email I sent, about that situation I needed help with? Did it get done?"

Fury pauses awkwardly, "Yes it's all fine, I have to go now, good luck."

Reed leaves the room and is escorted back to their quarters, _That's not Nick Fury, we really are captives_.


End file.
